The Wire Episodes 6 & 7, S1, and other stuff before bed

Quickly, because need to go to bed and get sleep. Luckily can sleep in tomorrow.

1. The Wire Impressions
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2. Reading this new YA book by Kristin Cashore entitled Graceling. It's interesting because it has a really tough female character who is gifted with lightening fast reflexes and the ability to kill people with her hands. After years spent as her Uncle's head assassin or muscle, she forms a special and secretive group that rescues people from King's like and including her Uncle. The book is interesting because the writer is exploring the way people perceive women and gender, and the inherent stereotypes. I am enjoying it. Unlike most tough female characters - Katsa is neither victimized or raped. She comes by her talent naturally. It is a talent that is abused by those in power and the fact she is female is also something the men in power attempt to use against her.


3. Discovered a new singer/songwriter - who I hadn't listened to since college. He's sort of a poor man's Johnny Cash. Deep raspy voice, and stories with a SouthWestern vibe. Named Sand Sheff. I knew him in college actually, we ran the American Folklore House together. Posted a poem he wrote for me while I was there in this journal ages ago..Anyhow if you are interested in my admittedly eclectic and frequently bizarre taste in music - go here: http://youtu.be/ptmtVktx-YM
[How many people do you know who have Aracadia, Punchmonkey, Adele, Amanda Palmer, Sand Sheff, Johnny Cash, Sondheim, Mozart, Biz Naked, Ghost in the Robot, Nick Cave, David Bowie, and Nina Simone on their ipod?)

4. People are predicting the emmies in the entertainment mags and blogs.

My picks for best drama?

Game of Thrones
Mad Men
The Good Wife
Justified
Terriers. (although the fact that it was canceled in December probably doesn't bode well for it's chances.)
Friday Night Lights ( forgot about this one last night - mostly because it went on hiatus for a week...it's the most brilliant heightened reality, serial family drama on tv at the moment.)

I suppose Caprica deserves an honorable mention but much like Dollhouse, Caprica was a mess plot-wise. It didn't quite know what it wanted to do and tried to do one too many things at once. Cluttered and often confusing. With a somewhat over-the-top and at times didatic anti-religion story which reminded me a bit of David E Kelley jumping up and down on his soap-box. They did the same story far better in BSG, actually. More preachy than coherent, it failed on so many levels, which was a shame - since there were some really good and innovative bits threaded throughout - particularly the whole twisted take on virtual reality and the girl inside the robot. In some respects, I think Caprica came closer to accomplishing its aim than Dollhouse did, and closer to the theme that Dollhouse wanted to address but sort of belly-flopped on. But then the writer of Dollhouse was attempting to emulate Ron Moore, while the writer of Caprica actually worked for Ron Moore. A definite advantage.

I'm going to bed.

(no subject)

It's official have a full-fledged cold, probably got it last weekend at the retreat, although lack of sleep this week may have contributed, that and the up and down temperatures.

Brain: Let's do the jazz festival in Red Hook.
Body: ZZZ....no, feel crappy.
Brain: Let's go apartment hunting.
Body: hack, wheeze, no feel crappy.
Brain: Let's go do kayaking.
Body: Yeah, right. Look up the definition of "feel crappy" and "have a cold" and get back to me.
Brain: How about we go see a movie?
Body: How about we stay home and watch tv and wander about on the internet and maybe read a book, and
drink lots of water, tea, and oj?
Brain: Okay...but I pick the home entertainment options.
Body: As long as it doesn't require much physical activity, and we can eat a gluten-free snickerdoodle cookie during it, I don't care.
Brain: Shouldn't we have gluten-free chicken soup instead?
Body: It's 86 degrees outside, what do you think?

Sigh. Stupid body.

Finished the eighth episode of the Wire this morning, entitled Lessons. Where Omar says - "if you aim to hit the king, make sure you don't miss the king." It's a great scene actually. Ending with Omar whistling the Cheese Stands Alone, and delivering that line. I'm getting more and more hooked on this little series. Spoke to Dadster about it, apparently he knows a guy who was an ex-DEA agent, who worked the streets of DC and Baltimore, and with the cops on those beats and has seen The Wire - this guy told him that everything in the Wire, from the dialogue down to the set design, etc - is exactly what it is like in that world. Exactly. See? Heightened reality - or more real than reality tv shows. Or at the very least more entertaining.

After watching the man-pain vid circulating my flist, I felt this overwhelming need to point people in the direction of this: A Pervert's Guide to Cinema (a download is found here - but it is very long:http://qualitymovie814.over-blog.com/).